The Oakland Raiders have been very active this offseason in free agency and the draft and after signing a number of their selections already to contracts, three big names are still without deals as training camp approaches in Tyler Wilson, D.J. Hayden and Menelik Watson.
The Raiders signed a six draft picks already to contracts, including Brice Butler, Latavius Murray, Stacy McGee, David Bass and Nick Kasa, but that still leaves first round pick DJ Hayden as well as second rounder Watson and the fourth rounder Wilson unsigned with training camp weeks away. Kasa and Mychal Rivera were signed out of the sixth round and are both tight ends, while Murray was also a sixth round pick out of Central Florida as a running back and he could be a big force this season if Darren McFadden gets hurt.
Butler is a budding star and he was taken in the seventh round along with Bass, while McGee was a sixth round pick. Watson was a second round selection from Florida State and although he is unsigned, general manager McKenzie and the Raiders have high expectations for him on the offensive line and he could start depending on how training camp goes. The Raiders made 10 selections in the draft after making some trades and the toughest deals could be for Hayden and Wilson, as one is injured and one is a quarterback, which always can make deals complicated.
Wilson had first round grades by many teams and he may be hoping for a decent contract because he will be considered the quarterback of the future behind the newly-acquired Matt Flynn. Hayden was injured in college and he had surgery this summer for an abdominal issue, although the team said it isn't expected to linger. Those deals could take time and there is a chance that Hayden will miss some training camp anyway as he recovers from his surgery. McKenzie went after the tight ends to make up for losing Brandon Myers in free agency, as he led the team in receiving last season and now Kasa will have the chance to compete in training camp for a starting spot.
Wilson likely won't start after the team traded for Flynn, but stranger things have happened and depending on how he does in training camp, Dennis Allen could make the tough call, much like Pete Carroll did with Russell Wilson over Flynn for the Seahawks. The Raiders are expecting big improvements after signing Nick Roach, Kevin Burnett, Charles Woodson, Mike Jenkins and Tracy Porter and their record should be better than 4-12. The team is not the only one with their first rounder unsigned, as the Giants, Texans, Jets, Chiefs, Dolphins and Eagles are all dealing with it, as are other teams. Some of the top unsigned names include Eric Fisher, DeAndre Hopkins, Justin Pugh, Dion Jordan, Lane Johnson and Chance Warmack among others.
